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Episode 1431 (1 April 1997)
Synopsis It's April Fool's Day and Nigel is seen supergluing a pound coin to the pavement. It's number 11 of the hilarious pranks he found on the internet. Sigh. He watches from the video shop as a number of passers-by try to pick it up. Grant appears and asks him what he's doing and he says it's hilarious. Grant asks if he's not a bit old for that sort of thing. Nigel says that inside this 38-year old body of a sex god there is a 16 year old trying to get out. Grant looks down at Nigel's belly and says "What, just the one?" Anyway, are you on for the run tomorrow, you have to start building stamina, so I'll see you at 5:30am outside the Vic. Nigel says unfortunately his stamina doesn't get up until about 8:30, but Grant says that he will have no problem if he's been sticking to the training schedule he gave him, and if he's not there, Grant will be round to drag him out of bed. Nigel agrees that he has been following the training plan, but doesn't look too sure about it. Nigel has to go out later, leaving his assistant watching a Kung Fu film. When he returns he can't believe his eyes - the paving stone the pound coin was stuck to has been dug up is gone. Pauline and Mark mention Aunt Nelly being ill. She says she's more worried about Ethel who also has the flu that Nelly has. Mark says she'll be OK, she's as tough as old boots. Ian keeps getting mobile phone rings and then there is no-one there. Barry is moaning about all the hoax calls he had this morning, asking him to pick up various stupid names, including a Mr Piggott and Mr Dodd from outside the Tax office. Gita and Sanjay discover that IVF will cost £3,000 per attempt, but Gita says they could borrow money knowing that his father's inheritance will come through soon. Sanjay has to admit that the will has already been read and all the money goes to his mother, but he was afraid to tell her. Gita can't believe it - first the lies about the factory he kept up for years to his mother, then this, keeping the truth from her about the inheritance. Sarah has refused to stay at her father's house in protest at his treatment of Robbie. She's at Kathy's instead, and Kathy is trying to talk her into going home. She refuses to forgive Ted for what he did, and says that if she goes home it will be like condoning what he did, and she will never do that. Kathy says she seems to be judging people instead of all this forgiveness and love stuff she's supposed to preach, and can't she even be charitable to her own father? Sarah says it's not right, where do you draw the line - what if she walked into a door tomorrow - would Ted be round to beat Kathy up because he assumed she'd hit Sarah? She says he will never change unless someone shows him it is wrong, and if she doesn't who will - Kathy? Kathy looks annoyed but says that Sarah keeps on about doing the right thing, so she should think about who is really to blame - if she hadn't run off then none of this would have happened. Ted was worried sick when she disappeared and what were they supposed to think. At least she should let Ted give his side of the story. Sarah says well, if Ted had let Robbie give his side of the story, we wouldn't be having this conversation would we? She insists that she wants to do what is right, and agrees that she has to do something. Joe visits and Kathy says she's going out and hopes Joe can talk some sense in to her. They have a chat and Joe is very kind and supportive, and says that if she needs him, he will always be here for her. She goes out and when Kathy returns, she assumes that Sarah has gone to see Ted, and phones him to tell him to let Sarah talk and then just agree with whatever she says and kiss and make up. Sonia is still busking, and she's got £8 to spend. Claire says she will get caught if she keeps on spending money, and Sonia says don't you want any sweets then? Claire says no, but then Sonia says she's buying the magazine with a colour Peter Andre pin-up, and Claire relents. Later they go home and "surf the net" getting into a chat session with someone who says they are 18 years old. Grant asks Nigel about his April Fool joke, and Nigel says his "research into greed in the 90's" showed it was far worse than expected. He looks at the change Grant just gave him and says it's even worse, I gave you a fiver. Grant says oh yes, ....and one makes five.. as he produces the paving stone from behind the bar. Tony has his interview for "office junior" at the Walford Gazette. He's asked why he wants the job and he says lamely "it seems more interesting than most jobs." The editor says "So not because you want to put something back into the community and report on real issues that affect people and make a difference then?" Tony looks uncomfortable at what might be the "correct" answer, but then the editor laughs and says he's just pulling his leg, and he didn't really know why he wanted to get into journalism when he started, but he did and he was hooked. He says he used to work in Fleet Street before it was all lottery numbers and sleaze, and he just wants to make good reports about local issues that affect people - victims of crime, people evicted by the council, etc. He says he will have no sleaze on his paper. He adds, the office junior job is as it sounds - you do all the jobs everyone else can't be bothered to do or are too busy to do. Tony says he hasn't got any fancy qualifications, and he won't pretend he knows much about journalism, but he will work hard and learns fast. The editor looks reasonably favourable, as he tells Tony he'll let him know in a couple of days. As Tony is leaving he bumps into the journalist who was sniffing around the Vic for the Sarah story. She says I know you don't I, and Tony says err yes, she says oh yes, you were the one who threw me out of the Vic the other day. Tony says he was here for the interview, and she says by the way you won't mention the other night, if you do get the job, will you - it wasn't for this paper, a bit of moonlighting. Tony says well if you put in a good word for me, I will promise not to say anything. She says it's a deal, so it looks like Tony has a job. At the hospital, Robbie is told he can go home soon. Sarah phones him up as well, and asks how he is and says she wants to put things right. She goes to the police station, and has to wait a while to see anyone. Tony goes home and takes Ted out for a drink to celebrate, saying he can't sit at home for ever. Peggy buys them a drink on the house, while Lorraine says to Grant she can't believe Ted's nerve, and he makes her sick. Of course Alan and Carol come into the Vic later, and there is a lot of tension, and Alan almost comes over to have a go at Ted. Phil step in between them and Kathy drags Ted out, protesting he's only there for a quiet drink. Alan stops, then suddenly runs out after Ted. However, he stops in his tracks as Ted walks out straight into the grasp of two policemen who have just dropped Sarah off and arrest him for assaulting Robbie. Sarah looks on with her usual worried frown. Credits Main cast *Daniela Denby-Ashe as Sarah *Brian Croucher as Ted *Gillian Taylforth as Kathy *Dean Gaffney as Robbie *Lindsey Coulson as Carol *Howard Antony as Alan *Mark Homer as Tony *Andrew Lynford as Simon *Deepak Verma as Sanjay *Shobu Kapoor as Gita *Ross Kemp as Grant *Jacqueline Leonard as Lorraine *Paul Nicholls as Joe *Steve McFadden as Phil *Barbara Windsor as Peggy *Paul Bradley as Nigel *Patsy Palmer as Bianca *Martine McCutheon as Tiffany *Wendy Richard as Pauline *Todd Carty as Mark *Adam Woodyatt as Ian *Russell Floyd as Michael *Shaun Williamson as Barry *Victoria Gould as Polly *Alan Hunter as Max *Natalie Cassidy as Sonia *Gemma Bissix as Clare *Mark Brett as Desk Sergeant *Paul Angelis as D.S. Barnes *Susan Warren as Nurse Category:Episode Category:1997 Episodes Category:Episodes outside of broadcast patterns